


Moms Are Tough

by witchkisser



Category: Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu | Legend of the Galactic Heroes
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon, Spoilers, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-07
Updated: 2018-03-07
Packaged: 2019-03-28 03:43:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13895514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchkisser/pseuds/witchkisser
Summary: Hortense Cazellnu invites the ruler of the known universe over for tea.





	Moms Are Tough

**Author's Note:**

> I saw someone mention this ship in an offhand joke and actually it turns out that I'm into it. These characters never met or spoke to each other but I don't let that stop me.

It is a very odd thing to have the Empress of the entire galaxy in one's living room. Hortense Cazellnu was a formidable woman, but even she was susceptable to intimidation when Hilde, ever-dignified even as she entered her middle-age, looked at her.

The undisputed ruler of the universe was on Heinessen often these days, ostensibly as part of the detente process, by which she, several of her top advisors, as well as Frederica Greenhill-Yang and Julian Mintz intended to shape the Empire into something altogether new.

Today wasn't about work, though. The children were with friends. Alex was out with Julian and Frederica, working on some matter internal to the government of Heinessen, and somehow this meant that Her Imperial Highness, Kaiserin Hildegard, was sitting directly in Hortense's living room, looking like a knight out of a fairytale.

Hortense poured tea into two mugs, her body working automatically while her attention was entirely focused on her guest. She watched Hilde across the island that separated their kitchen from the living room, marveling at how out-of-place the Kaiserin looked.

Hilde wore a suit, as she always did. It was in deep purple, with silver embroidery tracing out delicate patterns. Hortense normally hated the imperial influence on fashion, but on Hilde it somehow looked appropriate. Perhaps it was the bits of grey in her hair, which she still wore cropped short (not like a man, Hortence thought, Hilde had more style in her little finger than any man she'd ever met).

"I was surprised you accepted my invitation. I never thought you'd want to come out to a humble home like mine." Hortense set a cup of tea in front of the supreme ruler of humankind.

HIlde smiled, friendly. "It's lovely, and thank you for the invitation." She took a sip of the tea, her eyes fluttering closed for a second as she tasted it. "With Alex grown so much, I have little to do these days." It was a lie, and one that did not suit her. Although she'd taken a surprisingly active role in raising her child (given her high position, it would not have been surprising if she'd delegated that task), but Hilde had been if anything far more involved in the administration of her late husband's empire.

Sitting next to Hilde, Hortense felt underdressed in her own house. Wearing a simple everyday dress, no matter how lovely the blue color, she felt a little bit intimidated by the sheer presence that Hilde brought to the room. "Oh? Then you must visit more often. You're always welcome here, you know."

Hilde laughed, a polite chuckle. Hortense wondered how long it had been since anyone had even implied that Hilde needed an invitation to go where she pleased. It had been more than ten years, she suspected. "Why thank you, Hortense. You are truly kind."

Hortense leaned in closer. The couch was large, and there were plenty of other seats in the room. She wondered if Hilde would miss the significance of the gesture. "Oh, it's nothing. Tell me, how have you been holding up? I imagine it must be very hard on you, with all the responsibility."

Hilde showed the first sign of weakness that Hortense had seen, a fraction of a second of the tiniest slump of her shoulders. "It's fine, really. I keep busy, there is no end of work."

Seizing the opportunity, Hortense pressed the point. "I meant more in the sense of, well," she pretended to search for the word, "are you lonely?" Hortense thought that it must be very difficult for a woman in Hilde's position to have anyone she could truly call a friend.

"Well." Hilde smiled, but did not respond. "Are you offering me your company?"

Hortense realized that the tables had been turned, and that suddenly Hilde's left hand rested on her shoulder. She very nearly spilled her tea all over her lap, but Hilde plucked the cup out of Hortense's hand, saving it at the last moment. Hilde was very close. Hortense realized her face was bright red.

A small but knowing smile on her face, Hilde offered Hortense a slight reprieve, leaning back a bit, her hand sliding up near Hortense's face, gently brushing aside a strand of hair. Hortense, too, naturally would have had streaks of grey in her hair. Unlike Hilde, she dyed them back to her natural blonde.

She felt the tension sliding out of her, and leaned down, resting her head on Hilde's shoulder. The tiny filigree of silver on Hilde's suit felt cool against her cheek. "Well," she was finding it difficult to find the words. Hilde, meanwhile, patted her gently on the head, and then picked up and took another sip of the tea.

"You are truly an artist." Somehow, receiving a compliment from Hilde meant the world to her in this moment. What had she been thinking, Hortense wondered? She was a housewife, happily married, with children and a husband who loved her, and here she was, making a (clumsy) move on the woman who ruled the world.

Before she could regret her current course of action too much, Hilde turned to face her. "Although I do think that perhaps your greatest work is as yet a mystery to me." She once again placed her hand alongside Hortense's face, Hilde's long fingers resting against the side of Hortense's head.

"Oh, I'm nothing special-" Hortense began, when Hilde interrupted her.

"Don't say that. Everything that you have built here," she nodded her head briefly to indicate the rest of the house, and, by extension, the life that Hortense had lived, "is a thing of beauty comparable only to you."

Hilde's blue eyes held Hortense's gaze. "You flatter me."

"I do not. I have no need to flatter anyone." It was the first time that Hilde had even acknowledged her rank during this visit.

Hortense raised her own hand, gently pulling Hilde's away from her head, entertwining their fingers together. "Perhaps we should not, our husbands-"

"My husband is gone, and wished only that I pursue happiness in life. And yours, well," Hilde smiled, perhaps a little meaner this time, "I am not a man. Has he anything to fear?"

Hortense understood the meaning perfectly. Alex was a fine husband, as they went, but there were some things that he would not understand. The way she felt now was one of them.

Hortense again closed the distance. "Let's not talk of such things."

Surprisingly, Hilde obeyed.


End file.
